Shaw Media purchases Suburban Life newspapers

Shaw Media said Monday it has acquired Suburban Life, a chain of 22 weekly newspapers that circulate in the Western suburbs, from New York-based GateHouse Media.

Terms of the acquisition were not announced.

Dixon-based Shaw Media is the publisher of the Northwest Herald of Crystal Lake and the Kane County Chronicle of St. Charles.

Suburban Life publications include the Elmhurst Press, Wheaton Leader, Downers Grove Reporter, Berwyn Life, and the website mysuburbanlife.com. The group distributes in DuPage, Kane, McHenry, Will and Cook counties.

“Adding Suburban Life expands our print and digital footprint in the Chicago suburban region, and will give us opportunities to better serve our readers and advertisers,” John Rung, Shaw Media’s senior vice president for media operations, said in a news release.

Kane County Chronicle Publisher J. Tom Shaw will also serve as publisher of the Suburban Life publications, Rung said.

“We are proud to welcome Suburban Life to our growing portfolio of family-owned, community-focused media operations,” said Tom Shaw, Shaw Media President and CEO. “We are extremely excited to be returning these respected titles to their family-owned roots.”

The acquisition includes the St. Charles Republican, Batavia Republican, Geneva Republican and the Farmside, all of which are in the distribution area of existing Shaw Media publications. The company did not say whether those publications will remain independent.

Shaw Media also announced it will participate in adhance media, GateHouse Media’s online private ad exchange, to fill unsold inventory for Shaw Media’s digital properties.